Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming

investors2021-08-03

When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind. Square(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...

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精彩评论

KayuHuat
2021-08-04
KayuHuat
Luckily I sold at a high price. Waiting to buy back soon.
Linc0racle
2021-08-04
Linc0racle
Can consider buying
- HMian:
  Good opportunity indeed
Vomous
2021-08-04
Vomous
Yes should try
Blurking
2021-08-04
Blurking
A good stock that inch up every year. Can keep for long term investment
- Sumei:
  Totally agree!
- Blurking:
  Buy periodicaly to average out
767ee28b
2021-08-04
767ee28b
Like
- 767ee28b:
  li ke
- 767ee28b:
  L ike
- 767ee28b:
  Lik e
- 767ee28b:
  Lik e
- Cvt:
  Like
767ee28b
2021-08-04
767ee28b
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Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">网页链接</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"SQ","symbol_name":"Block","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","article_id":"1102455284","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":[],"rights":null,"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"lsy1610449120050","name":"Investors"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"investors.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"translate_title":"Square,Inc股票是买进的吗？以下是重新开放时要寻找的，比特币迫在眉睫","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"SQ":0.9},"content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","kind":null,"is_publish_news":false,"is_publish_highlight":true,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":1},"commentList":[{"id":890125235,"gmtCreate":1628087747027,"gmtModify":1631890280895,"author":{"id":"3573900388927422","authorId":"3573900388927422","name":"KayuHuat","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/9c2af8d81f1d7b5201bc1dfd421de52b","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"idStr":"3573900388927422","authorIdStr":"3573900388927422"},"htmlText":"Luckily I sold at a high price. Waiting to buy back soon.","listText":"Luckily I sold at a high price. Waiting to buy back soon.","text":"Luckily I sold at a high price. Waiting to buy back soon.","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":2,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/890125235","repostId":1102455284,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1102455284?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-08-03 22:29","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","media":"investors","summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","content":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off&nbsp; 40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments.&nbsp;The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's&nbsp;subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies.&nbsp;Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%.&nbsp;Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe&nbsp;relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&amp;P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","source":"lsy1610449120050","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nIs Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","article_id":"1102455284","content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"langContent":"EN"},{"id":807459564,"gmtCreate":1628052227958,"gmtModify":1631888118697,"author":{"id":"3579339063162547","authorId":"3579339063162547","name":"Linc0racle","avatar":"https://static.laohu8.com/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":3,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"idStr":"3579339063162547","authorIdStr":"3579339063162547"},"htmlText":"Can consider buying","listText":"Can consider buying","text":"Can consider buying","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":3,"commentSize":1,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/807459564","repostId":1102455284,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1102455284?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-08-03 22:29","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","media":"investors","summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","content":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off&nbsp; 40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments.&nbsp;The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's&nbsp;subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies.&nbsp;Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%.&nbsp;Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe&nbsp;relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&amp;P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","source":"lsy1610449120050","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nIs Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","article_id":"1102455284","content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"comments":[{"id":5423472,"gmtCreate":1628066977757,"gmtModify":1631888118700,"authorId":3577877222927887,"author":{"id":3577877222927887,"idStr":"3577877222927887","authorId":3577877222927887,"name":"HMian","avatar":"https://static.laohu8.com/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":4,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807459564,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"Good opportunity indeed","text":"Good opportunity indeed","html":"Good opportunity indeed"}],"langContent":"EN"},{"id":807230662,"gmtCreate":1628037997256,"gmtModify":1633754196143,"author":{"id":"3574455472493609","authorId":"3574455472493609","name":"Vomous","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/1523a388591c46c650f4c78ead1b8530","vip":1,"crmLevel":5,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"idStr":"3574455472493609","authorIdStr":"3574455472493609"},"htmlText":"Yes should try&nbsp;","listText":"Yes should try&nbsp;","text":"Yes should try","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":2,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/807230662","repostId":1102455284,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1102455284?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-08-03 22:29","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","media":"investors","summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","content":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off&nbsp; 40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments.&nbsp;The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's&nbsp;subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies.&nbsp;Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%.&nbsp;Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe&nbsp;relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&amp;P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","source":"lsy1610449120050","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nIs Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","article_id":"1102455284","content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"langContent":"EN"},{"id":807657637,"gmtCreate":1628036251829,"gmtModify":1631889142893,"author":{"id":"3581145874192062","authorId":"3581145874192062","name":"Blurking","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/ed860cb4f3525c0719e435441ea282e9","vip":1,"crmLevel":5,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"idStr":"3581145874192062","authorIdStr":"3581145874192062"},"htmlText":"A good stock that inch up every year. Can keep for long term investment&nbsp;","listText":"A good stock that inch up every year. Can keep for long term investment&nbsp;","text":"A good stock that inch up every year. Can keep for long term investment","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":4,"commentSize":2,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/807657637","repostId":1102455284,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1102455284?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-08-03 22:29","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","media":"investors","summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","content":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off&nbsp; 40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments.&nbsp;The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's&nbsp;subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies.&nbsp;Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%.&nbsp;Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe&nbsp;relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&amp;P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","source":"lsy1610449120050","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nIs Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","article_id":"1102455284","content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"comments":[{"id":5419771,"gmtCreate":1628039606258,"gmtModify":1631889142914,"authorId":3566259831309087,"author":{"id":3566259831309087,"idStr":"3566259831309087","authorId":3566259831309087,"name":"Sumei","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/ae0a2af1baf6b07a87ffdf41ea17959a","vip":1,"crmLevel":6,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807657637,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"Totally agree! ","text":"Totally agree! ","html":"Totally agree! "},{"id":5419013,"gmtCreate":1628036308603,"gmtModify":1631889142896,"authorId":3581145874192062,"author":{"id":3581145874192062,"idStr":"3581145874192062","authorId":3581145874192062,"name":"Blurking","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/ed860cb4f3525c0719e435441ea282e9","vip":1,"crmLevel":5,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807657637,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"Buy periodicaly to average out","text":"Buy periodicaly to average out","html":"Buy periodicaly to average out"}],"langContent":"EN"},{"id":807654604,"gmtCreate":1628036212808,"gmtModify":1631892854152,"author":{"id":"3581998759859179","authorId":"3581998759859179","name":"767ee28b","avatar":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"idStr":"3581998759859179","authorIdStr":"3581998759859179"},"htmlText":"Like&nbsp;","listText":"Like&nbsp;","text":"Like","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":3,"commentSize":8,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/807654604","repostId":1102455284,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1102455284?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-08-03 22:29","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","media":"investors","summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","content":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off&nbsp; 40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments.&nbsp;The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's&nbsp;subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies.&nbsp;Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%.&nbsp;Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe&nbsp;relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&amp;P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","source":"lsy1610449120050","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nIs Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","article_id":"1102455284","content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"comments":[{"id":7027420,"gmtCreate":1639777279261,"gmtModify":1639777279350,"authorId":3581998759859179,"author":{"id":3581998759859179,"idStr":"3581998759859179","authorId":3581998759859179,"name":"767ee28b","avatar":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807654604,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"li ke","text":"li ke","html":"li ke"},{"id":6861849,"gmtCreate":1638752358411,"gmtModify":1638752358497,"authorId":3581998759859179,"author":{"id":3581998759859179,"idStr":"3581998759859179","authorId":3581998759859179,"name":"767ee28b","avatar":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807654604,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"L ike","text":"L ike","html":"L ike"},{"id":6711212,"gmtCreate":1637789318572,"gmtModify":1637789318663,"authorId":3581998759859179,"author":{"id":3581998759859179,"idStr":"3581998759859179","authorId":3581998759859179,"name":"767ee28b","avatar":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807654604,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"Lik e","text":"Lik e","html":"Lik e"},{"id":6554929,"gmtCreate":1636757646621,"gmtModify":1636757646712,"authorId":3581998759859179,"author":{"id":3581998759859179,"idStr":"3581998759859179","authorId":3581998759859179,"name":"767ee28b","avatar":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807654604,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"Lik e","text":"Lik e","html":"Lik e"},{"id":5419041,"gmtCreate":1628036407926,"gmtModify":1635160736084,"authorId":3579235597126488,"author":{"id":3579235597126488,"idStr":"3579235597126488","authorId":3579235597126488,"name":"Cvt","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/c8fda02901ec7a98b51fe8e84d016ab2","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[]},"repliedAuthorId":0,"objectId":807654604,"type":1,"supId":0,"prevId":0,"content":"Like","text":"Like","html":"Like"}],"langContent":"EN"},{"id":807654031,"gmtCreate":1628036188723,"gmtModify":1631892854166,"author":{"id":"3581998759859179","authorId":"3581998759859179","name":"767ee28b","avatar":"https://community-static.tradeup.com/news/default-avatar.jpg","vip":1,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"idStr":"3581998759859179","authorIdStr":"3581998759859179"},"htmlText":"Like&nbsp;","listText":"Like&nbsp;","text":"Like","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":3,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/807654031","repostId":1102455284,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1102455284","pubTimestamp":1628000975,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1102455284?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-08-03 22:29","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1102455284","media":"investors","summary":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to","content":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off&nbsp; 40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments.&nbsp;The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's&nbsp;subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies.&nbsp;Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%.&nbsp;Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe&nbsp;relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&amp;P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","source":"lsy1610449120050","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Is Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nIs Square Stock A Buy? Here's What To Look For With Reopening, Bitcoin Looming\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-08-03 22:29 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220>investors</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nWhen you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 ...\n\n<a href=\"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"SQ":"Block"},"source_url":"https://www.investors.com/news/technology/sq-stock-buy-now/?src=A00220","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","article_id":"1102455284","content_text":"When you think of SQ stock, both the coronavirus pandemic and cryptocurrency Bitcoin quickly come to mind.\nSquare(SQ) on Aug. 1 agreed to buy Australia-based consumer lending startup Afterpay in a$29 billion all-stock deal.Afterpay competes in the emerging \"buy now, pay later\" market that encroaches on credit card networks. Some investors questioned whether Square needed to buy a BNPL company as opposed to building up its own capabilities or partnering.\nSquare stock also reported mixed second-quarter results.\nBitcoin hit an all-time high near $65,000 in April. At the time, Square stock traded near an all-time high. Bitcoin, which recently fell to around $30,000, on July 26 rebounded to $39,000. It's still off  40% from its all-time high.\nSquare reported a $45 million impairment to operating income in the June quarter related to its Bitcoin investments.\nIn a tweet on July 15, Square Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company will create a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin.\nSquare is \"building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permission-less, and decentralized financial services,\" Dorsey tweeted.\nSQ stock surged in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App. They shrugged off worries over Square stock exposure to small businesses and restaurants that might close because of the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Square's business has been on a wild ride through the Covid-19 pandemic,\" MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis said in a recent note to clients. \"Mandatory business closures abruptly shuttered many of its core seller customers, triggering a dramatic drop in Square's business, followed by an equally dramatic rebound.\nSquare Stock: Investments Hiked In 2021\n\"At the same time, the pandemic has turbo-charged the growth of Square's wildly popular consumer Cash App business,\" Ellis went on to say. \"We believe Square will emerge from the crisis in a stronger competitive position, leveraging its strong balance sheet, differentiated product suite, innovative team and strong brand.\"\nSquare has closed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jay Z's Tidalmusic streaming service for $297 million in cash and stock.\nWith multiple products, SQ stock faces stiff competition in both consumer financial apps and the small business market. Analysts expect Square's rivalry withPayPal Holdings(PYPL) to heat up in 2021 as theyimprove digital wallets.\nOther rivals includeFirst Data's (FDC) Clover unit,Shopify(SHOP), merchant acquirers, and well-funded startup Stripe.\nSQ Stock: Doubling Down On Bitcoin\nSquare stock disclosed a new $170 million investment in Bitcoin in early 2021 on top of its $50 million purchase in October. The company reports Bitcoin holdings as unrealized gains on investments, and will be excluded from adjusted earnings, analysts say.\nSquare Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently said the company is interested in developing aBitcoin hardware wallet.\nSQ stock had 40 million Cash App monthly active users as of June 30, up from 36 million at the end of 2020.\nCash App users are able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin. Square's adjusted revenue from Bitcoin are sales to app users, minus the cost of purchasing the digital currency.\nBut Square's Bitcoin business has gross profit margins of only around 2%, analysts say.\nSQ Stock: Payments Ecosystem\nIn its core business, Square aims to build a two-sided digital payments ecosystem, with products designed for both merchant sellers and consumer buyers. The Square Cash App helps individuals manage money.\nFor merchants, Square makes credit-card readers that plug into mobile devices. Its Square Capital division provides loans to sellers. While Square retains only 10% of Square Capital loans on its balance sheet, there's still a risk of defaults.\nPrior to the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts were divided on whether Square revenue growth would reaccelerate with margin improvement following a period of elevated investments. The Square Cash App, a peer-to-peer money-transfer service, competes with PayPal'sVenmo, Zelle and others.\nAmid the coronavirus emergency, Cash App emerged as a digital alternative to traditional banks. Consumers used the Cash App's direct-deposit feature to receive government stimulus payments, for example. But Cash App gross profit growth slowed over the summer, analysts say, as stimulus programs expired.\nSquare is testing a short-term borrowing feature for Cash App users. Square offers loans of $20 to $200. Cash App users are expected to pay pack the loans in four weeks, with interest.\nAlso, the Cash App provides a stock trading feature. Cash App offers a debit card through a deal with Marqeta.\nThe bearish view is that Cash App's momentum proves transitory with low customer retention after the coronavirus pandemic eases.\nThe Square Cash app, Square Capital and Instant Deposit all contribute to the company's subscription and services revenue. One key for Square is cross-selling more services to its existing pool of merchants, analysts say.\nTo broaden its consumer platform, Square plans to buy Credit Karma's tax business for $50 million in cash. It's a free service for consumers.\nSQ Stock: Moving Upmarket To Bigger Sellers\nThe payment processor has the same chief executive asTwitter(TWTR) in Dorsey. The CEO-sharing arrangement has seemingly worked out for Square stock.\nWith roots in serving such micro-merchants as food trucks and farm-stand vendors, Square has moved \"upmarket,\" targeting larger businesses.\nSQ stock ranks among the top 10 fintech companies. Bigger fintech companies includeVisa(V),Mastercard(MA), PayPal,Fidelity National Information Services(FIS),Fiserv(FISV) andAmerican Express(AXP).\nIn addition to selling credit-card readers, Square provides software for point-of-sale and back offices in order to manage inventory and other tasks.\nSquare recently focused on software products that can be used across many industries, such as invoicing, payroll and marketing. It also aims to integrate its payment tools into e-commerce platforms.\nInstant Deposit Speeds Up Process\nThe company's Square Instant Deposit allows merchants to immediately receive payments instead of waiting a few days for settlement.\nMeanwhile, Square Card is a business prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Sutton Bank to small business owners on the Square platform.\nSquare on March 2 said its Utah-based industrial bank has launched services to small businesses. Called Square Financial Services, the bank will offer loans and deposit accounts.\nIn trying to move upmarket, Square takes on Worldpay andGlobal Payments(GPN).\nSomefintech companies are merging, giving them greater scale vs. Square.\nThe company recently sold Caviar, a food ordering and delivery service, to DoorDash for $410 million.\nOne key question as competition heats up is the outlook for the gross payment volume — total volume of sales in dollars generated by merchant customers — also known as GPV. It's a key financial metric for rivals like PayPal as well.\nSquare Stock Fundamental Analysis\nSquare's Q2 earnings per share spiked 266% to 66 cents in the June quarter. Revenue surged 143% to $4.68 billion but missed estimates amid Bitcoin volatility. Excluding Bitcoin, revenue was $1.96 billion.\nAnalysts expected Square earnings per share of 30 cents on sales of $5.03 billion.\n\"CashApp's year-over-year revenue growth (87%) decelerated from the prior quarter's 139%, reflecting tough comparisons, with likely further deceleration during the next few quarters,\" Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri said in a report.\nGross payment volume, or GPV, from merchant customers rose 88% to $42.83 billion.\nAdjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, came in at $360 million, topping estimates of $179 million.\nSQ Stock Technical Analysis\nAfter its disappointing initial public offering in November 2015, Square stock meandered. In June 2016, SQ stock still traded just above its initial public offering price of 9.\nThat soon changed. From July 1, 2016, through a high of 101.50 set last Oct. 1, Square stock exploded nearly 995%. Its big run led one analyst to call Square the nextFANG stock, joining the likes ofFacebook(FB),Amazon(AMZN),Netflix(NFLX) andAlphabet's (GOOGL) Google in stature.\nFollowing its big run, Square stock fell more than 50% in late 2018 as many technology companies also crashed. SQ stock clawed back in 2019.\nSquare stock forged a proper entry point of 87.35 in early February, 2020 just before the coronavirus outbreak forced cities to shut down. Shares surged some 248% in 2020 as investors focused on the growth of its consumer Cash App.\nNot many stocks roar back after a 50% correction. It takes time for them to digest gains and set up for another extended surge into new highs. Many never deliver a repeat performance such as SQ stock.\nEven so, Square has wrestled with finding the right balance of revenue growth, investments and profitability.\nIs Square Stock A Buy Right Now?\nSquare'sRelative Strength Ratingis 89 out of a best-possible 99, according toIBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating.\nThe relative strength line, the blue line in the chart above, compares a stock's price performance with that of the S&P 500. An upward-trending RS line tells you the stock is doing better than the general market.\nSQ stock, meanwhile, has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C-minus. The rating runs from a best-possible A+ to a worst-possible E. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A falling Accumulation/Distribution Rating would be a sign that institutional buyers are exiting.\nSquare stock rallied on the Afterpay acquisition. SQ stock cleared an alternative entry from a handle base.\nA 5% buy zone above a new 267.87 entry extends to 281.26. As of Aug. 3, SQ stock trades just below the new entry point, having pulled back a bit from the Afterpay acquisition rally.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"langContent":"EN"}],"isCommentEnd":false,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":213,"commentSize":43,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":false,"deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.29.2","shortVersion":"4.29.2","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"laohu8","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/1102455284"}